THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: M Vincent MLA, who was arrested the other day for the alleged sexual abuse of a woman, has been stripped off all his official posts in the Congress, including that of the KPCC secretary, said KPCC president M M Hassan on Sunday. However, he will continue to be a member of the party and an MLA, Hassan told media persons.
Amid the demand for Vincent’s resignation from several quarters, including a few women leaders of the Congress itself, the top leadership of the Congress has decided to wait till the case reaches its legal conclusion. Hassan said the decision to remove Vincent from the KPCC secretary and other posts was taken on moral grounds. Hassan, however, maintained the woman’s charges against Vincent were not to be believed.
“The woman’s sister herself cried foul over it. There were new reports saying the woman had, in recent times, levelled sexual harassment charges against two persons,” Hassan said.
“The charges against Vincent and his hasty arrest are part of a political conspiracy. The CPM MLA of Neyyattinkara and local party leaders are behind it,” said Hassan. The charges will simply be allegations until there is finality in the case, Hassan said. “As such, Vincent need not resign as MLA. There is no precedent of an MLA resigning due to mere allegations of sexual harassment,” Hassan said.